Collapsible mast construction



Nov. 12, 1957 w. s. ONAN COLLAPSIBLE MAST CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet l 'Filed Oct. 26. 1953 INVENToR v WILLIAM s. O'NAN` Nov. 12, 1957 w, s @NAN 2,812,833

COLLAPSIBLE MAST CONSTRUCTION Filed 001'.. 26, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WILLIAM s. O'NAN w. s. oNAN CoLLAPsIBLE MAST CONSTRUCTION Nov. l2, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR United States Patent 2,812,833 COLLAPSIBLE MAST CONSTRUCTION William S. ONan, Morganleld, Ky. Application October 26, 1953, Serial No. 388,152 2 Claims. (Cl. 189-26) This invention relates to a collapsible mast construction. More particularly, this invention pertains to electronic aerials, lsuch as those for television and radio, which are collapsible and, which may readily be installed and serviced.

In the eld of television particularly, not enjoy normally available television where there is such reception, it may be of an unfavorable or fringe character. To a lesser extent, the same situation may prevail in respect of radio communication. Such localities and areas, as a consequence, utilize aerials which are in the form of masts or towers to improve electronic reception. Such aerial masts are commonly placed on the roof of dwellings and other buildings. In many cases, particularly for higher installations or where the nature of the building roof may not permit a sound roof installation, such masts are erected and extend upwardly from the ground near the building having the television or radio apparatus within to be connected to such mast. Particularly in the case of television aerials, some installations may have to extend for optimum reception as much as one hundred feet or more above the ground, whereas in other localities considerably less height is suitable. Where such aerials are directional and where they are for television especially, regular service of the aerial masts or towers may either be needed or desirable. Heretofore, the installation and servicing of prior electronic aerials, particularly where they were installed on the roof of a building such as a dwelling, involved a cumbersome and expensive operation. Moreover, in many cases there were also preassembly, storage and transportation problems particularly in the case of larger masts. When installed, many prior masts had to be taken down completely for service and re-erected at an expense which many a householder could ill aiford to bear. In roof installations, it was not uncommon to have a spider web of guy wires covering the roof to invite leaks, make the roof unsightly and add to the problem and expense attendant upon such prior practices.

In my invention, the foregoing difliculties have been overcome. I provide a new collapsible mast construction which is readily transportable in section and which may be packaged if desired. At the site, my new construction can be assembled and erected by as few as one man and in less time than heretofore was possible. Further, the character of my new construction is such that the new mast may readily be collapsed whenever servicing is to be performed thereon and as readily returned to upright operative position following such servicing by a single serviceman. At the same time, in operative position, my new construction is rigid, olfers relatively little wind resistance and when guying is used such guys are few in number and relatively close to the new mast so there is neither an unsightly, detrimental nor a hazardous networlf` on a roof or around a ground installation of my new construction. Moreover, my new construction is flexible in that a new mast of varying heights may very some localities do reception. Even ICC readily be provided to suit particular conditions of electronic reception.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative only, in which Figure 1 illustrates a ground installation embodiment of my new collapsible mast construction;

Figure 2 illustrates a step in the erection of the ernbodiment shown in Figure l Figure 3 is a further step in the erection of the embodiment shown in Figure l;

Figure 4 is a view ofnew mast sections employed in an embodiment such as that shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a view of a roof installation embodiment of this invention in collapsed position;

Figure 6 is a view of the lower portion of the embodiment shown in Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an exploded View of the new construction set forth in the embodiment shown in Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a view of a Cotter bolt which may be utilized in my new construction; and

Figure 9 is a view of a somewhat shorter roof installation embodiment of my invention which may be collapsed so as to be serviced on the roof.

Referring to Figures l to 4, a new collapsible mast construction 10 comprises a pair of spaced uprights 11 which may be made of steel or aluminum pipe of suitable strength, wall thickness and diameter. Uprights 11 may be permanently held in a hardened concrete block 12 set in the ground 13 adjacent a building having television or radio apparatus to be connected to aerial 10. Uprights 11 are provided with an uppermost set of registering holes 14, an intermediate set of holes 15 and a lowermost set of holes 16.

A pair of spaced standards 17 is also provided. Standards 17 may be made of such pipe in the same manner as uprights 11. Standards 17 are provided at their lower ends with registering sets of holes 14a, 15a and 16a, respectively, from the uppermost to the lowermost. In installed position, holes 14a, 15a and 16a of standards 17 are in registry respectively with holes 14, 15 and 16 of the uprights 11. A bolt 15b extends through the holes 15 and 15a in registry and a bolt 16.5 extends through the holes 16 and 16a in registry. Suitable nuts fasten the bolts 15b and 16b in place in the fully installed construction 1i). Either bolt 15b or bolt 16b may be a hinge pin relative to standards 17 as in the case of the erection of the aerial 11B. Thus, as shown in Figure 2, standards 17 are in the course of being erected and are utilizing bolt 15b extending through holes 15 and 15a as a hinge for such erection. If desired, the bolt 16b could be used in lieu of bolt 15b as such a hinge. In the illustrated mode, after the standards 17 reach the dotted position shown in Figure 2, bolt 16h is inserted through holes 16 and 16a and a nut is screwed on bolt 1Gb to fasten that portion of the installation.

Guy wires 18 may be employed, particularly for higher installations. Such guy wires may extend between eyes 19 welded or otherwise fastened to standards 17 adjacent the top thereof and stakes 2@ fastened in ground 13. Each guy wire 18 may be provided with a turn buckle 21 to tighten the wires after erection of standards 17 is complete. Where a pair of alternate hinge bolts like bolts 15b and 16h is provided for the standards 17, guy wires 13 may be omitted in those localities where either the height of the new aerial or the wind conditions are such that their use would be superfluous. On the other hand, with such guy wires 18, but a single bolt either like Abolt 15b or bolt 16b is required with its corresponding registering holes since the guy wires acting as stabilizing anchors for standards 17 after they are connected in final rality of pipe sections hold the reinforcements in position.

position and tightened. may be positioned over of standards 17 and further, washers may be placed over the respective bolts between the uprights 11 and the re-V spective standards 17 adjacent thereto if precise central positioning of the standards 17 between the uprights 11, is wished.

A mast member 23 is provided in two parts in the ernbodiment shown in Figure 1, a lower part 23a and an upper part 231). Lower part 23a may be made of a plu- 24 of standard length which, for example, may be ten feet for convenience of packaging and carrying to the place Where a new mast is to be erected. The pipe material, strength, Wall thickness and diameter will be selected to be appropriate for the intended use and relative to the other structural members in the new collapsible mast 1t). Each section 24 may be threaded with pipe threads at its respective ends 24a and aligned abutting sections 24 may be joined by a coupling 25. Each coupling 25 comprises an internally threaded portion 26 to tightly grip the threads 24a of the respective ends 25 of the respective sections 24 joined by such coupling. Further, each coupling 25 includes sleeve portions 27 which extend along the sections 24 beyond the respective ends 25 engaging the threaded portions 26. Thereby, the sleeve portions 27 of each coupling 25 serves to reinforce the joints between sections 24. Further reinforcement may be supplied with particularly high towers by having an internal closely fitting pipe reinforcement 28, as shown in Figure 4, extending a suitable distance on each side of the joint between adjoining ends 25. A cotter pin 29 or other securing means may be employed to hold the reinforcements 28 in their respective positions. The cotters 29 can be inserted on the site at the time the new construction is erected through appropriate holes drilled on such site. In place of regular cotter pins 29, bolts may be used to It will be evident that the standards i7 may be similarly made of more than one section in length and that as a consequence, the new mast construction i6 may readily extend fty or more feet into the air from the ground in the embodiment shown in Figure l. Part 23h of the central mast member 23 may also be made of sections joined together in the manner described and illustrated in Figure 4. A hole 14e extends through the bottom of part 23a in registry with holes 14 and 14a. An anchoring bolt 14b which is also provided with a nut extends through all of such holes i4, 14a and 14C when they are in registry to maintain the new construction erect as shown in Figure 1. Registering holes 30 extend through standards 17 adjacent the top thereof. The portion of part `23a of the central mast member 23 has a registering hole 31 therein to be in alignment with the holes 30. A mast hinge bolt 32 passes through the holes 30 and 31 when in alignment and has a nut thereon as shown to complete the links by means of which the various elements of my new device are held together in the embodiment shown in installed position.

In erecting mast 10, as shown in Figure 2, pin 32 is a hinge pin on which member 23 may turn. Hence the standards 17 may be erected to the position shown in Figure 2 by swinging them about the bolt 15b, bolts 14h and lob being away from the uprights 11 during such operation. When the standards 17 reach the position shown in Figure 3, bolt 16h is inserted, locking the standards i7 in erect position, or the guy wires 18 are put in place and tightened, or both actions are performed. Then, upper part 2319 of central -member 23 is aixed to lower part 23a. In that way, there is little or no handling of a rod structure like antenna 33 suitable for the mast and fastened to the upright part 23b. The structure 33 may take many and varied shapes and for accuracy of reception it is important that such members 33 not be bent.Y In this invention the antenna 3.3 are preferably applied to the mast member 23 after the standards 17 are iri place and secured. Then the bottom of member 23 is swung about hinge pin 32 in the direction of the arrows shown in Figure 3 to raise the entire central member assembly including antenna 33 to nal position as shown in Figure 1 and by dashed lines in Figure 3. For the purpose of bringing the bottom of member 23 into the plane of uprights 11 and standards 17 a rope may be affixed to such bottom or may be passed through the noie Mc for that purpose and then disengaged when the bolt i417 is inserted through the holes 14, 14a and 14C in registry. Thereupon the nut is placed on bolt 14b and the installation of the mast 10 is complete.

At the time that part 23b is connected to part 23a, preferably after standards 17 are in place, a rotator unit 34 is employed. Such rotator units are conventional and include a motor in a case for rotating upper part 23b and antenna 33 for most effective reception in the case of a television receiver, for example. Unit 34 is provided with a clamp portion 35 which ts over the uppermost end of lower part 23a and is fastened to the outside thereof by suitable means. The bottom of part 23h of mast member 23 is threaded or otherwise prepared to seat in unit 34 and to be rotatably secured thereto. A cable 36 extends from unit 34 downwardly through the center of lower part 23a and terminates in an electrical plug fitting 37. A companion fitting 3S is connected to a power line 39 in a housing 4t) leading to a suitable power source. Electronic energy from antenna 33 may be brought down along mast member 23 either internally or along the outside thereof through the medium of insulated standoff fittings. Preferably the structural members of my new mast construction 10 are grounded.

In the course of servicing new construction tti, fittings 37 and 38 are disconnected and bolt 14,5 is removed from the uprights 11, standards 17 and mast member 23a. rthereupon the part of central member 23 above hinge bolt 32 is readily and carefully lowered so that either unit 34 or antenna 33 or any other portion of the new mast 10 requiring attention, may be suitably serviced. Such servicing may, as will appear, be performed by one man without any need for a crane or other device. Usually, a ladder or a carpenters horse will be placed beneath central member 23 at an appropriate place to keep the antenna 33 olf the ground while the servicing operation is performed. After such servicing, then bottom of member 23 is swung again as shown by the arrow in Figure 3 to return the mast 10 to its erect operative position as shown in Figure 1 when it is refastened in erect position.

A roof embodiment of my new collapsible mast construction is illustrated in Figures 5 to S and the parts thereof generally corresponding in construction and function to the parts of the embodiment in Figure 1 are given the same reference numerals with the addition of a prime factor thereto.

In installing mast 10 upon a roof, channel hinge brackets 41 are utilized, said brackets having a base 42 and an upright 11. Parts 11' and 4-2 are held together by a bolt 43 having a nut 44 for such purpose. Lag screws 4-5 extend through the roof covering into the rafter or other structural member beneath the roof covering of a dwelling 46. Preferably, a gasket 47 of asphaltic mated rial is utilized between the bases 42 and the roof of house 46 to insure against roof leaks as a consequence of the installation of my new collapsible mast construction thereon. Similarly, where guys 18' are fastened to the roof of house 46 asphaltic grommets or neoprene washers may be used in connection with the fastening members which may again be lag screws to seal the roof against leaks where it has been penetrated for the installation of device 10'. Because of the hinge nature of the parts of bracket 41 about the bolts 43, the slope of the roof on which device 10' is mounted is of no consequence and the uprights 11 can be adjusted and fixed in vertical opposed relation on such roof. In some cases, a roof ridge saddle may be employed and used as a platform base for uprights and device 10 after said platform base is secured to the roof top.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7 particularly, the guying afforded by the members 18 is suicient so that in the embodiment 16 one set of registering holes and the corresponding bolt have been omitted adjacent the base of the new device. Thus, bolts 141;' and 16h' only are utilized with device 10. Moreover, bolt 14h', the mast anchor bolt for the bottom of member 23', may have a construction as shown in Figure 8. Thus, at one end of bolt 14b there is an eye 48 which may be engaged by a hook, for example, at the end of a long pole when mast 10' is to be collapsed as shown in Figure for servicing. In the course of such collapsing, a halyard 49 aflixed to a ring 50 may be used to enable central member 23 to swing gently in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 5 toward the ground so that antenna 33', for example, or unit 34 may be serviced. In the drawings, the various elements are not to scale and may take a Variety of dimensional relations. A stop 52 is provided and the weighting of member 23 about hinge pin 32 may be such that taken with the length of member 23 antenna 33' will tend to swing toward the ground when freed and may be serviced from there. If desired, internal or extrenal counterweighting may be employed adjacent the bottom of a central member 23 or 23 so that the structure is relatively evenly balanced about the respective hinge axes 32 and 32.

Further, in the embodiment of Figure 7, a reducing tting 53 is at the top of part 23a to hold a stud 54 about which a clamp 35 of unit 34 is applied. Moreover, cable 36 in the embodiment of Figure 7 extends upwardly through a standard 17 and then passes into member 23 adjacent hinge pin 32. In that way, there is sufcient play in cable 36 around hinge 32 to permit servicing such as that illustrated in the collapsed position of mast in Figure 5 to take place without parting cable 36 adjacent hinge 32. After servicing in the position shown in Figure 5, or after the initial assembly of the central member 23 in the position shown in Figure 5, rope 49 is pulled to send member 23 into a vertical position as shown in Figures 6 and 7 whereupon anchor bolt 14b, is inserted or reinserted through te holes 14', 14a and 14C to place mast 10 in erect operative position. Bolt 14b' may be replaced by a conventional bolt. As shown in Figure 8, bolt 14h' includes spring bows 55 in longitudinally extending recesses 56. The bows are held in place by machine screws 57 at one end, the other end being free to slide when the center of the bows are depressed into the recesses 56 in the course of sliding bolt 14b into or out of the holes 14', 14a and 14e. The holes 14 and 14a' and 14e' are drilled so that the bows 55 act as a cotter when bolt 14b is fully inserted in those holes. If desired, a conventional bolt or a bolt with a conventional cotter pin through the non-head end may be used to hold the new assembly together through holes 14, 14a and 14e.

In Figure 9, a further roof installation is shown in which the height of the new collapsible aerial is less than the length of the roof. As a consequence, the aerial may readily be serviced by a single serviceman collapsing it on a roof 51" as shown in such Figure 9. The parts corresponding generally in function and in structure to parts of the other roof embodiment illustrated are provided with the same reference numeral, with a double prime factor. No stop like stop 52 is used in the embodiment shown in Figure 9 and a fork 58 may be employed to hold antenna 33" olf ridge 51" while servicing is being performed.

Various other modications may be made in my new collapsible mast construction without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a collapsible mast construction, apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of relatively low upright members adapted to be anchored adjacent the bottoms thereof, said upright members being spaced generally parallel to one another, a pair of spaced rodlike standards, said standards being generally parallel and having lower ends which fit between said upright members, a rodlike mast positioned between said standards with the lower end of said mast extending between said upright members when said mast is upright, a hinge member connecting said standards adjacent the top thereof and said mast so that said mast may hinge about the axis thereof relative to said standards, a pin connecting said upright members and extending through said standards and said mast adjacent the lower ends thereof, and a further pin connecting said upright members and extending through said standards adjacent their lower ends below the lower end of said mast, whereby by selective removal of one of said pins, said standards and said mast may be selectively raised and lowered relative to one another and to said upright members.

2. In a collapsible mast construction, apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of relatively low upright members adapted to be anchored adjacent the bottoms thereof, said upright members being spaced generally parallel to one another, a pair of spaced rodlike standards, said standards being generally parallel and having lower ends which it between said upright members, a rodlike mast positioned between said standards with the lower end of said mast extending between said upright members when said mast is upright, a hinge member connecting said standards adjacent the top thereof and said mast so that said mast may hinge about the axis thereof relative to said standards, a pin connecting said upright members and extending through said standards and said mast adjacent the lower ends thereof, a further pin connecting said upright members and extending through said standards adjacent their lower ends below the lower end of said mast, said upright members, standards and mast being substantially in one plane when upright, and a still further pin connecting said upright members and extending through said standards adjacent their lower ends below said further pin, the axes of said pins being in said one plane, whereby by selective removal of one of said pins, said standards and said mast may be selectively raised and lowered relative to one another and to said upright members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,501,998 Hanford et al. July 22, 1924 1,581,325 Sands Apr. 20, 1926 1,613,979 Bolander Jan. 11, 1927 2,611,456 Bader Sept. 23, 1952 

